Employee reviews or performance reviews can be stressful on a manager, especially if they haven’t worked directly with the employee for a significant period of time or are new to the position. Employee reviews are necessary for improving productivity and ensuring your good employees stay for the long-term. However, there are some things you can do to make review time a smooth, simple, and productive process.

Here are three ways to make employee reviews less stressful.

1. Conduct ongoing reviews.

Instead of just doing one annual review, consider conducing ongoing reviews so that you are addressing key areas of concern as they happen. Conducting ongoing reviews also opens up the line of communication and makes it easier to correct problems as they occur. You also can pass along compliments and share good information at these consistent meetings. Waiting an extended period of time to address a problem with an employee isn’t successful for anyone.

2. Ask the employee for feedback.

Very few managers will take the lead on asking for a critique of their own management style or behavior from an employee. However, this type of information can be very valuable because it can help you determine whether you and the employee can get along and what needs to be improved. Don’t be afraid to ask the employee what they like and dislike about your relationship so that you can both focus on improving things. Constructive criticism makes you a better leader, makes the department better and makes the company better.

3. Create an action plan together.

You’ll have both positive and negative points to share during an employee review. Be prepared to list everything out and work through the items together. The goal is to create an action plan to turn as many negatives into a positive. Get a verbal agreement or consensus on next steps so that you can work towards a better relationship and help the employee perform better at their job.

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